Lecturers
The programme is taught by specialists in their various disciplines. Instructors have a wide range of specializations and cultural interests and encourage trans- and interdisciplinary approaches in classwork.
Matthias Erhardt, Dr. phil., born 1968. Studied English, German and Educational Sciences at the University of Würzburg. He passed the 1st and 2nd state examinations for the teaching profession at the Gymnasium and did a Doctorate in school pedagogy in 2006 on a topic related to educational theory of the Gymnasium as a special kind of school. After working for several years as a Teacher at Bavarian Gymnasium, since 2003 he has been a member of staff at the Chair of School Pedagogy at the University of Würzburg. In 2008, he moved to a lifetrack position at the chair and has worked there as a senior lecturer since 2010. He did a substitute for a professorship for school pedagogy at the University of Paderborn in the winter semester 2014/2015. Since April 2017 he has also been responsible for the management of the Professional School of Education at the University of Würzburg. In 2022 he left the chair of school pedagogy and concentrates on the management of the Professional School of Education of the University of Würzburg. Main areas of work are questions about the conception and structure of the Gymnasium as well as research about teacher education and training.
Course: Special Topics of School Pedagogy
Contact: Dr. Matthias Erhardt
Birgit Herrmann studied Modern China (B.A.) and Chinese Studies (M.A.) at JMU Würzburg and Peking University. She is currently writing her PhD thesis on late marriage and voluntary childlessness in contemporary urban China. In 2023, she started working for the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Arts. She is responsible for the Chinese classes in the INSIGHTS programme.
Courses:
Contact: birgit.herrmann@uni-wuerzburg.de
Alexander Hofmann started studying musicology at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität in Würzburg, Germany in 2011. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 2013 with his thesis about the Star Wars film music and his analysis of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader’s theme by John Williams. In 2016 he earned his master’s degree with a thesis on four different musical versions of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem Das Veilchen. Since 2018, he has been a PhD student in musicology on a scholarship from Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst at the same institution. He is currently working on his dissertation entitled Metal: Analytical Studies Based on the Standard Repertoire of a Popular Music Genre, with other research interests including music theory, computational musicology, film music, popular music and ethnomusicology. Apart from that, he plays the piano, organ, keyboard, drums, guitar and the carillon.
Course: Spotlights on German Music History
Contact (via Twitter): https://twitter.com/_Alex_Hofmann_
Sabrina Hüttner earned a master’s degree in American studies, cultural studies, economics, pedagogy, and political sciences from the JMU Würzburg and Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK. From 2007 until 2014 she worked as assistant professor (wissenschaftl. Mitarbeiterin) in the American studies department and from 2015 until 2016 as program coordinator at the Service Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (ZiLS) at the University of Würzburg.
Since 2017 she has been working as program manager and acting director at the local community college (vhs Würzburg & Umgebung).
She has been teaching classes on the history of the European Union ever since 2008 and has always been fascinated by the strange animal that is the EU.
Course: From Paris to Lisbon and Beyond: A Short History of Germany's Role in the EU
Contact: s.huettner@uni-wuerzburg.de
1987 born in Fulda
Studies and academic career
2007-2013 studies in German literature and language studies, Catholic Theology
2013 First state examination for secondary schools – thesis Die causa sui im Verhältnis zum Unbewegten Beweger. Untersuchungen zum Einfluss der Philosophie des Aristoteles zur Gotteslehre und Schöpfungstheologie Herman Schells
2015 licenciate in Catholic Theology (STL) – thesis: Sprache, Geist und Dogma. Über den Einbruch Gottes in die Wirklichkeit des Menschen und dessen sprachliche Aufarbeitung (translation: The Fragility of Language and the Encounter with God. On the Contingency and Legitimacy of Doctrine. Minneapolis: fortress 2021.)
2017, March-April Visting Lecturer Pontifical University Maynooth, Ireland
2018, January Visiting scholar Center for Catholic Studies Durham, GB
2018 February Visiting lecturer Shimer College Naperville, USA/ visiting scholar Loyoloa University Chicago, USA
2018, May Doctorate in Catholic Theology (STD) – thesis: Der versöhnte Blick und die Gabe des Anderen. Eine ästhetische relecture der Erbsünde
2019, January Visiting scholar Center for Catholic Studies Durham, GB
2019, June Visiting scholar Center for Catholic Studies Durham, GB
2020, February-March Visiting scholar der Villanova University, USA
2022, August-September Visiting scholar Center for Catholic Studies Durham, GB
Course: Understanding Germany and its Christian Heritage
Contact: florian.klug@uni-wuerzburg.de
Christina Schäfer is an accomplished scholar and lecturer, with a Magister's degree and Staatsexamen in German and History from JMU Würzburg. She completed her PhD in 2018, with a dissertation on “Erich Welter. Der Mann hinter der FAZ”. Since then, she has been working in the Dean's Office. In addition to her administrative duties, she has also given lectures in the Würzburg English Language Programme. In 2023 Christina Schäfer was appointed one of the directors of the programme. She teaches a variety of subjects, most of which have a historical approach.
Courses:
Luise Stark has been studying European Ethnology and Philosophy and Religion at JMU Würzburg since 2019 and has been working as a student assistant at both chairs since 2020. Her research focuses on design anthropology, beyond human studies and economics of religion. From 2013 until 2018, Luise Stark studied design at the Faculty of Applied Arts Schneeberg. Since completing her Master's degree in 2018, she has been working as a freelance multimedia designer and meanwhile also as science communicator at her own studio.
Course: Folklike Germany: Customs and Traditions
Contact: luise.stark@uni-wuerzburg.de
Lisa Stolz studied Law, English-Speaking Cultures, and History at the Universities of Heidelberg and Würzburg, concluding in 2020 with a Master's thesis on Physics Nobel Laureates Albert Einstein and Johannes Stark. Following her studies, she worked at the Chair for Contemporary History at the University of Würzburg. Since 2021, she has been a Research Associate at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in the project "Biographical Studies of Leopoldina Members during the Nazi Era." Concurrently, she is working on her doctoral thesis. Her primary research focuses include media history, memory studies, and the history of law and science. She has been teaching since 2017, and since 2019, she has also been part of the INSIGHTS (formerly known as WELP) programme.
Course: Crime and Punishment: German Historical Criminal Cases and Newspapers (together with Dr. Christina Schäfer)
Contact: lisa.stolz@uni-wuerzburg.de
Course: Rechtsenglisch I
